BOSTON — Democrats have made access to abortion a key issue in the upcoming election as they battle to hold onto the White House and a slim majority in the House of Representatives.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade has become a catalyst for Democrats, who are hammering Republicans across the country on the abortion issue as polling shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a wider advantage on the issue than Democrats enjoyed over Republicans in the 2022 midterms.
Harris has vowed if elected to support eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate in order to bring back federal protections for a woman’s right to an abortion. She has targeted Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s support for overturning federal protections, arguing that the GOP will push for a nationwide ban if he wins.
But the issue is playing out a bit differently in the U.S. Senate race in deep-blue Massachusetts, where the pro-choice Republican candidate says he will jump ship to the Democratic Party if the GOP pushes for a nationwide abortion ban.
John Deaton, a cryptocurrency attorney who is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Nov. 5 election, argues that Warren has tried to lump him in with other Republicans pushing for a ban on abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate federal protections for the procedure.
“I am the pro-choice candidate in this election,” Deaton said at a press briefing outside the Statehouse on Tuesday, pointing out that he has three daughters. “You couldn’t have a more fierce advocate for women’s rights. I will work to codify Roe v. Wade in federal law.”
In recent interviews, Warren has suggested that Deaton would be a tie-breaking vote for Republicans in a 50-50 split in the Senate on controversial issues such as cuts to federal safety-net programs, corporate tax cuts and abortion restrictions.
But Deaton called those claims “dishonest” and said Warren is distorting his stance on women’s reproductive rights and other key issues to win another six-year term.
“I personally guarantee that in a 50-50 Senate, I will single-handedly prevent a federal abortion ban from reaching the Senate floor,” he said. “Senator Warren can’t do that. She’ll just be another partisan person from the other side who is dismissed in the conversation.”
Deaton also criticized Warren for only agreeing to two debates ahead of the November election. He said she declined to participate in a third debate, specifically on abortion.
“Rather than have an honest debate about what she acknowledges is a key issue in this election, Senator Warren would prefer to use the same old tired playbook of fear mongering,” he said.
To be sure, Deaton faces an uphill battle defeating Warren, 73, who was first elected to the Senate in 2012 after defeating Republican Scott Brown in a race that drew national attention.
Recent polls have shown the Cambridge Democrat with a wide margin over her challenger, who emerged from a three-way GOP primary race to win the party’s nomination.
A Warren campaign spokesperson pushed back on Deaton’s claims, noting that he would still be a vote for Republicans if he wins the election.
“Who runs the Senate will determine which bills and judicial nominees get votes and which don’t, and Republican control is a risk that Massachusetts cannot afford to take,” a spokesperson said. “Senator Warren looks forward to debating her Republican opponent on this and other critical issues facing the Commonwealth two weeks from today.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com